The committee would show Biden can turn enthusiasm into the kind of big-dollar donations needed to float a national campaign and it would let him share the wealth with congressional candidates down the ballot – a way to stock up chits for a grueling primary.

For any other candidate, this would be a no-brainer. But Biden has to balance against two powerful Democrats — his boss, the president, and his likely rival, Hillary Clinton - in a way that doesn’t make him seem disloyal to Obama or disrespectful of Clinton.

And in a way, it’s a proxy for his larger decision — if he should decide to run regardless of what Clinton does, he has to thread the needle between the same two, and not irritate the supporters of each while still staking a claim to a chance to seek the nomination.

It’s a delicate balancing act, but his supporters say he can raise big money.

“I do expect the vice president to be active raising money for candidates in 2014 and whatever his plans may be beyond that it will be useful to the party and the candidates and potentially to him,” said Larry Rasky, a longtime Biden insider.

Several Biden insiders declined to speak publicly about the effort, since Biden hasn’t made up his mind.

Changing the perception of his fundraising ability with big donors and bundlers will take an enormous effort.

Biden has never been a big fundraiser and as a senator had no need to raise large amounts of money for races in Delaware — a small state with largely low dollar media buys.

Biden’s fundraising struggles were apparent in his 2007 bid for the Democratic nomination. In part, he was hobbled by his comments at the outset of his campaign, when he called then-rival Obama “articulate” in an interview – and then spent days apologizing. But he was also competing against top-tier fundraisers Clinton and Obama.

That year, Biden raised $11.3 million — well short of the $20 million he predicted he would need to compete in early primary states, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the last three months of his campaign the Delaware Democrat raised $3.2 million, well behind Clinton and Obama.

But several Biden allies say times have changed and that Biden has the capacity to bring in large amounts of money and headline fundraisers across the country, having used his time in office to develop a brand of his own.

“As a figure, Joe Biden has come a long way since 1987. He is now vice president of the United States. He’s traveled the country on behalf of Democrats since 2007, 2008,” Rasky said. “Since he was put on the ticket. He’s been a hugely successful surrogate for both fundraising and otherwise. So now, there’s no question about his ability, his gravitas, his strength as a politician.”

He added: “And he knows all of the major fundraisers in the party extremely well and he’s well-liked, if not beloved by many of them. So he’s in a totally different place than he’s ever been as a force within the party.”